Is Valve Planning A Linux-based gaming console?

Recently, Valve made an announcement that it will be porting Steam to Linux (with official support for Ubuntu Linux in particular) and is entering the Beta Testing phase as I write this. I don’t think Valve is looking to diversify Steam on to Linux simply because they think more people are going to outright switch over to Ubuntu on their PCs because they’re looking for an alternative to Windows 8. I have another theory.

It’s only a rumor at this point (one that’s been floating around since March this year) but I believe Valve’s long term goal is to use Ubuntu as the basis for a new console system, similar to the Xbox, Nintendo Wii and Playstation.